CRICKET WEEKEND ROUND-UP:THERE WERE plenty of frayed nerves in the end but two of Clontarf's young guns got them over the line yesterday as they beat Leinster by three wickets to add the Senior League title to their Cup win earlier in the summer and complete a memorable double.
Richard Forrest hit the winning runs as he pulled a short delivery from Hugh MacDonnell to the boundary to secure victory with 15 deliveries to spare.
At the other end, 20-year-old Eoghan Delany was unbeaten on 47 in helping his side home as they chased down a target of 194.
Together the pair put on 37 runs for the eighth wicket, while under huge pressure from a Leinster side that sniffed a victory of their own that would have handed the title to Railway Union.
The loss of Ireland internationals Andrew Poynter (17) and Alex Cusack (four) had given the home side hope, while Nelson struck when Australian professional Rod Hokin was out for 43 just after the drinks break to leave them on 111 for five.
Skipper Joe Morrissey would scramble a vital 19 runs to bring the target down to 40 but his departure, followed soon after by Matthew D’Arcy, put the result back in the melting pot.
Earlier, Leinster failed to extract full value from a good start as they went from 97 for one to 193 all out, losing their last four wickets in just seven deliveries.
Railway had been in pole position on Saturday evening after they ended Merrion’s title chances at Park Avenue.
WEEKEND RESULTS
Section A – At Rathmines: Leinster 193 (48 ovs) (D Lucas 43, H MacDonnell 36, C Mallon 34, A Patterson 27; A Cusack 2-25, J Morrissey 2-33, R Hokin 2-39), Clontarf 196-7 (47.3 ovs) (E Delaney 47no, R Hokin 43; C Byrnes 3-35). Clontarf (22 pts) bt Leinster (3pts) by 3 wkts.
At Milverton: The Hills 179 (50 ovs) (L Clinton 33, Mark Dwyer 30, J Clinton 25, M Sorensen 24; A Cusack 4-27, J Morrissey 2-37, A Poynter 2-49), Clontarf 180-5 (42.3 ovs) (A Poynter 52, B Coghlan 40, A Cusack 32no, M Sorensen 2-29). Clontarf (23 pts) bt The Hills (2 pts) by 5 wkts.
At Park Avenue: Merrion 106 (44.1 ovs) (P Lavang 34; G Lambert 4-21, C Rendell 3-22), Railway Union 107-5 (27.4 ovs) (S Ullah 37).
At Sydney Parade: Pembroke 200-7 (50 ovs) (E Whaley 63, B O’Rourke 41, A Eastwood 41), North County 135 (23.4 ovs) (J Mooney 46; A Eastwood 3-42). Pembroke (23pts) bt North County (2pts) by 65 runs.
Section B – At Kenure: Rush (24) 246-8 (50 overs) (N Shoukat 92no, L Jansen 61; S Dutt 3-43), Old Belvedere 147 (35.5 ovs) (A Yogesh 33; A Iqbal 3-15, N Shoukat 3-28). Rush (24pts) bt Old Belvedere (1pt) by 99 runs.
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